Fresno County superintendent candidate talks SEDA, trans athletes as mayor supports

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer stood front and center with Eimear O’Brien, his candidate for Fresno County superintendent, at a media event Tuesday to reaffirm his endorsement.

O’Brien, a former Clovis Unified superintendent, is running against incumbent Michele Cantwell-Copher and education professional Johnny Alvarado.

“I always found her to be that leader, optimistic, creative, a risk-taker, and most importantly, a champion of students,” Dyer said.

Dyer and O’Brien conducted a noontime news conference at Courthouse Park on Tuesday, across the street from the Fresno County Office of Education.

Dyer said he supports O’Brien because the county is “not going in the direction we need.” He said reading and writing prevent kids from dropping out of school and joining gangs — which meets his public safety goals.

Improving reading scores is O’Brien’s priority.

“I’m in it because I know I can do it. I believe I can do it – and that’s why I’m bold enough to say to the community: ‘Hold me accountable,’” O’Brien said.

The county superintendent of schools leads the County Office of Education and is responsible for monitoring the 31 school districts across Fresno County.

Voting is underway, concluding June 2.

O’Brien on transgender athletes

The California state high school track and field championship returns to Clovis on May 29-30. For the second consecutive year a trans athlete is scheduled to compete in girls events.

Tuesday, the California Interscholastic Federation — which runs the championship — announced it will award medals only to biological females in events if a transgender athlete also places. It held the same policy last year, which O’Brien supported.

“I thought it was a good solution for an issue that is evolving all the time, and ongoing discussions. And so, as a district, I know that Clovis Unified respected whatever the CIF decided,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien would not directly say if she supported the idea of transgender and biological athletes competing in the same division.

“I’ve always felt that I have concerns, a lot of them around safety and fairness. I hope that we can come to a place where we can resolve that,” she said.

Last year, AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School was allowed to participate at the state championships under the non-medal rule. There were protests and extra police at the Buchanan High venue in Clovis.

Hernandez is slated to compete again in the girls events this year, looking to repeat a first-place finish in the high jump and triple jump.

Critics last year, such as gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a Republican, blasted the inclusion of Hernandez.

Dyer blasts SEDA critics; O’Brien says not a school issue

School boards, including Fresno Unified and Central Unified, have voted to oppose one of Dyer’s chief land use policies, the Southeast Development Area (SEDA). The project, in its early stages, could add 45,000 homes on 9,000 acres in southeast Fresno.

O’Brien stayed consistent with previous responses on the issue, saying she believes SEDA is a city planning issue.

“Nobody has elected me to be a city planner, and so I really don’t think it’s appropriate for me even to weigh in,” O’Brien said.

The Fresno Unified board voted 4-0 with three abstentions at its May 13 meeting to oppose SEDA. They expressed concern that it might draw students away from the district. In voting in opposition last month, Central Unified cited that SEDA would take away emphasis from building out west Fresno.

Dyer has challenged the notion that Fresno Unified attendance would drop. He took aim at the districts for voting against.

“I don’t believe that they have any business talking about it. Most importantly, because they’re uninformed, and they’ve made uninformed decisions based on the information that they have. And so I think when, whenever they get the right information, like most folks in this community, then they support SEDA,” Dyer said.

The Fresno Bee reached out Cantwell-Copher and Alvarado and are awaiting a response.

This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 3:43 PM.